Neon Genesis Evangelion

Do you love me?

Season 1, Episode 25, Aired 3/20/96

Episode Summary

With the final Angel destroyed, Shinji struggles with his decision to kill Kaworu. He ponders why he pilots Eva; is it for the sake of mankind or simply to receive sympathy from others? Disappearing into nothingness, Gendo tells Shinji that this is simply the return to the state of the beginning, the primal womb that was lost. Misato tells him this is Instrumentality, and Shinji's wishes have shaped the world into a place of nothingness.moreless

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Cast & Crew

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Tristan MacAvery

Gendou Ikari (I)
Sue Ulu

Ritsuko Akagi
Tiffany Grant

Asuka Langley Souryuu

Fan Episode Reviews (2)

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What the he-- WAS that???

10

"Perfect"

By someone198, Sep 12, 2010 Report Abuse

This is truly a masterpiece with NO precedent. It's "stream of consciousness" in visual form instead of literary, and with multiple streams. Has there ever been anything like this in Eastern or Western animation?

People say it's painful and depressing to watch, and they couldn't be more right, but that's not a bad thing! The goal of any truly well written art, whether it's a book, movie, play, or anime isn't to make you happy. It's to bring you to that catharsis of emotion, give you a feeling you'll never forget, something that'll leave you breathless at the end. All you want to do is watch it again and again but at the same time, it's just too powerful to bear! That is what we have here, and the only things I've ever seen that come close to evoking emotion so strongly are "Avatar: The Last Airbender" and Shakespeare.

It's not a happy ending, but an ending doesn't have to be. It just has to be effective, strong, powerful, unforgettable. This one was.

I congratulate Hideaki Anno on his finale. It's one of a kind.moreless

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Insanity at its finest, but saying it like that makes it sound good.

1.7

"Abysmal"

By ZaleIsBackAgain, Sep 12, 2010 Report Abuse

This episode made me go insane in several levels; incredibly boring insane, physchologically insane, confused as hell insane, and that's it I think. It explores the various issues most of the characters were experiencing through the war against the Angels, questioning their every action. First Shinji was being questioned, then Rei, then Misato, then Asuka, not in that order. Questions such as why Shinji piloted the EVA, while he killed Kaoru, despite being the closest friend to him.

What I hated about this episode was it went into extreme detail into everyone's problems. It questioned absolutely everything surrounding the nature to everyone's actions, which made this the most depressing episode in all of Evangelion, and possibly ever. Ever as in books, TV shows, and any other form of storytelling! I really like sad episodes, but this episode made you sad in a very bad way, making you rather feel hopeless. Secondly, it was very boring. Due to budget problems, the people at GAINAX didn't have a lot of money to maintain their quality for the last two episodes, so minimally we'll be able to see little animation, and a lot of cut outs and stuff to that degree. Thirdly, it jumped around WAY too much! First, Shinji's case made you depressed, then we moved on to Asuka who's probably equally depressing, then we go to Misato and her problems, then we go back to Shinji, then the next thing you know, the Death Star blew up and everyone's dancing with the Ewoks in celebration of the Empire's defeat! It's really funny seeing Shinji dance with Ewoks, but too bad it didn't happen; something I only wished to see due to the boringness, confusingness, and depressingness of this episode. I even heard some Japanese kid back in Japan killed his own mother because he thought living is worthless and we all deserve to die due to exposure of Neon Genesis. If anything, I'm certainly positive the source that made him think like this was this episode, and for that, this episode should be avoided at ALL COSTS!!! Restrain yourself using knifes and metal chains, burn your TV when this episode airs, because it's just THAT BAD!!! And when I say bad, bad in many levels.

Actually I didn't mean anything I've said in the last couple sentences. If you can endure the boring moments of this episode, and you're one who digs for philisophical material, then this is definitely an episode to watch. Other wise, this episode should be avoided by anyone else who doesn't fit the description.moreless

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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Trivia
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Notes
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- This episode and episode 26 take place inside Shinji's mind. "End of Evangelion" takes place at the same time albeit in the real world. Edit
- Japanese Title: 「終わる世界」- ("Owaru Sekai") - "The World Ending" Edit
- This episode is widely considered by fans to be the low point of the series. Series creator and writer Hideaki Anno went through a long period of depression in the early 1990's. Episodes 25 and 26 are said to mirror his thought process near the end of his depression, and although fans have complained about the ending, Anno himself thinks it is perfect. Edit
Quotes
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Allusions
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- This is a singular piece of work with an exceedingly experimental structure. In spite of the story unfolding only through monologues and conversations between characters, the directing does a brilliant job maintaining the high tension. When it was originally aired, many voiced their opinion that they could not understand the story in Episode Twenty-Five and the Final Episode. However, there is actually a bare-bones explanation of the story within the show. That being... Gendou uses Rei to execute the Human Instrumentality Project and the complementation of man begins. Seeing the remakes, Episode 25' "air" and Episode 26' "My Purest Heart For You," may in fact make the content of Episode Twenty-Five easier to understand. The depictions of Misato and Risuko being shot to death, Unit-02 hugging its knees in the lake, and Asuka likewise hugging her knees within Unit-02 all correspond to Episode 25'. Edit